Dolce & Gabbana Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Dolce & Gabbana keep on celebrating their 20th anniversary with memorable events. Not only a cocktail and exhibition in the Palazzo Marino (City Hall) in the centre of Milan, but also with great theatrical fashionshows. The shows not only tell the story of their roots, but also of their creativity and passion.

Today’s menswearshow was all about passion and drama. The duo took inspiration from their beloved Sicily, especially from the fishermen. They took their simple, but inventive way of clothing – pants held together by a rope, fishnet-shirts, simple linen suits, sandals and shorts – and translated that in a casual, relaxed collection with white, black and sand as their main colors. I’m sure there was something for actor Morgan Freeman or Matthew McConnaughey who were attending the show.

But the most dramatic part was the performance of singer Annie Lennox. Dressed in a  huge ballgown she played the piano and acted like a real diva. Her voice sounded better than ever and she sang her evergreens passionately.

Graduation Shows: HKU – Utrecht

Yesterday 25 students of the HKU (Hogeschool voor de kunsten Utrecht) presented their graduation collections. In a beautiful location, called Winkel van Sinkel, they all gave their own little fashion show. The event was named ‘Platform’, yet each student could give his/her collection it’s own name. But apart from the name, they also had to come up with a theme, a collection (of course), the styling, the make-up, the choreography and the music. So you’ll guess they’d been working on this for months.

All the hard work was definitely visible; we saw some great collections.

Let’s start with Mariko Ferrier. Her theme was ‘The beauty of the ugly truth’. Her models first walked on stage very slowly, but started to walk faster towards the end. Her clothes were a mix of beautiful and ugly details. She, for example used light transparent fabrics combined with heavy, thick woollen parts. Her pants, her jackets and her tops all had wholes in them. They were hanging together by thick threads of wool. We loved the dip-dying she used, yet the music was awful.

Then we had Barbara Langendijk. She called her collection ‘Me versus My identity’ and was inspired by the search of her own identity. Her models stepped on the runway in towering high shoes and wore eye-catching glasses. Barbara had used her own shadow in her designs, which therefore had very high shoulders. She came up with strange combinations of fabrics like velvet and very thin transparent ones. An item we very much liked, was her beige cape.

The presentation of Mark Stadman, a fashion communication student, really stood out. Mark, who named his collection ?Mark, took his inspiration from the boy-bands in the nineties. He came up with five totally different outfits to stress the individual characters of ‘his boy-band’. His models had studied strange movements and wore crazy wigs. Mark didn’t design a collection, yet he managed to portray a very clear fashion message.

Esther Vijftigschild used the life’s tale of her Grandmother’s skin as a starting point for her collection ‘The metaphor of skin’. Like your skin can tell the story of your life, Esther did that with her clothes. Her designs were a mix of light and heavy fabrics. They had accentuated shoulders and volume in strange places. The ends of the fabric were decorated with thick wool. The silhouette was long.

Roos Woudenberg designed a good collection of men’s clothes. Not only did the designs look very wearable, they were all made out of sustainable materials too. Shades like brown/deep red were combined with dark blue. Especially the coats looked strong. Hats off for Roos for this sustainable and fashionable collection.

Jan Boelo Drenth’s collection was (like his music) very Gothic. He designed everything in black from capes to trails and cowls. It felt dark and mysterious, like he intended it. Jan used many different fabrics and created lots of volume. His great passion for couture was visible is lots of small accents he’d put on his garments. The good thing about this collection was that it was cohesive and became more dramatic with each outfit appearing on the runway. The skirts and the trails became bigger with each look. That’s how a good collection works. Well done.

Louis Vuitton Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

The circle is round. What started with the 50’s/60’s inspired show at Prada two weeks ago ended yesterday with a Louis Vuitton-collection in a production that breathed the Fifties-sixties in every outfit. The collection was inspired by And God created women, the movie that made Brigitte Bardot a big star, and the models looked sensual, feminine and curvy.

Marc Jacobs explained his take on the Fifties as an excuse to to pause and appreciate what a house like Vuitton is capable of creating. And that are bags actually, so there was a beautiful bag for every oufit Jacobs sent out – like fantastic redos of the Vuitton Speedy.

The silhouette was curvy with focus at the waist, full skirted dresses or full skirts mixed with tailored jackets- that’s probably why Jacobs hired Laetitia Casta, Bar Refaeli, Catherine McNeil, Karolina Kurkova, and finally Elle Macpherson, all women who were banned from the fashion-shows for a long time because of their beautiful, curvy body.  Jacobs made them look  fresh, feminine and ingenue, with hair scraped back into high, bouncy ponytails; clean makeup; and square-toed, block-heeled pumps trimmed with flat bows.

Louis Vuitton Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Chloe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Well, camel is the new black for next fall. And clean, sporty minimalism is the trend.

The collection Chloe’s Hannah MacGibbon sent out yesterday had it all. Her collection mixed the all classic American sportswear with a Seventies touch. It looked sleek and sensual – especially the wide legged trousers with high waist – everything was cut loosely to the body, there were great, big coats, sweater-like cashmere T-shirts and elegant blouses with draped bow details.

The only that we missed was, ehm, color. Besides 80 % camel, brown and black were the only ‘colors’ in the collection. That made it look a bit dull and tame, while camel is a great color to mix with some vibrant orange, electric blue or mean green. We would have been happy with a pair of gloves, a belt, a necklace or even a lipstick showing the sunny side.

Yves St. Laurent Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

The Yves St. Laurent-show started promising with a variation on the Little Black Dress with cape and a black three piece suit. Such a clean and classic look would be just on trend, as more houses are aiming at the new sporty minimalism. And no other house has a history in tailored sportswear and classic Parisian sensibility as the house of Yves St. Laurent.

But somehow designer Stefano Pilati tried too hard to be classic and modern, it needs a creative talent to make conservative sporty chic look dynamic and not dated. The long skirts however looked dull, the white shirts were dowdy and the plastic capes and eveningwear sexless. It looked like the collection was made for a nun instead of a woman of the world. Also because of the caped black forms, the head-coverings, the white cotton and heavy chain pendants.

Stefano Pilati told reporters that the collection was all about protection and that is was partly an homage to YSL and the tailleur. Maybe he should take a look at the retrospective on YSL that soon will open in the Petit Palais in Paris – there’s still a lot to learn from the old master.

Givenchy Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Riccardo Tisci proved it is possible to translate a ski & scuba-theme into a dark, mysterious collection. There were some tight, cheerful knits with a snowpattern and neoprene pants, but it never got too sporty. The slim pants and skirts, unzipped and unfurled at the waist, referenced scuba gear for some, Seventies ski outfits for others.

It was just another collection with Tisci’s signature tailoring:  sharp coats, tuxedo suits, and lean black pants. Red glitter gloves, bags and lips accompanied the clothes, as did sexy scarlet, black and nude lace. One of the best looks were the black leather pieces — mini slips and skirts — mixed with lace.

Stella McCartney Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Suddenly clean, minimal fashion is a hit. It started with Jil Sander and Raf Simons, then Phoebe Philo at Celine and now Stella McCartney got caught by it too. Gone are her sexy, flirtatious clothes with a classic touch, her fall/wintershow opened with a sleek gray cashmere coat just above the knee, worn with bare legs and slingbacks. Second outfit was a camel/blue  tunic with oversized stripes worn with slacks.

Gray, black, blue and camel were the main colors of the collection, with orange and fuchsia as shocking contrast. Graphic illusions were created with floating sleeves and geometric wool appliques on organza dresses. Cosy and comfortable were oversized cardigans in fishermen’s rib and a wrap coat in structural wool. Great basics were the stretch stirrup trousers, their slim silhouette paired effortlessly with the knitwear and tunics.

The eveningwear looked more glamorous with the draped backs and flesh revealing slits. The dresses had long train extensions.

The show was dedicated to her family, kids and team, but also to Lee – Alexander- McQueen. ‘You’re missed’, Stella wrote in a personal note.

Céline Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Phoebe Pilo’s debut springcollection at Céline was a huge success. Copies of her crisply chic safari jackets and dresses, the long white shirts and A-line skirts are dominating the stores of  cheap fashionlabels as we speak, but the house’s originals are also selling very well. Philo’s first collection was  a breath of fresh air at a time when fashion needed a respite from recession and the glamazon  look of black leather and big shoulders.

So expectations were high for her second collection. But as Philo said in her interview with T-magazine, she continued her work with great investment pieces in the best fabrics and in her signature clean, sophisticated cut. No frills, but deep blue coats instead, tailoring, short jackets, skinny pants, white (lace) shirts and leather pockets as a contrasting detail at A-line skirts. Ultra-chique and a winner were the white lammy capes. Simple, but feminine.

Costume National Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

The Costume National-collection reflected the menswear-collection, presented earlier this year in Milan, with lots of knitwear, wool and leather. The overall image was that of a tough girl wearing brown  leather suits or skirts mixed with fluffy, fringy knitted jackets, sometimes sleeveless,  and sweaters. Dresses were short and also had fringed detailing.

It was the usual Costume National mix and match of contrasting structures in fabrics, shiny and matte, fluffy and smooth, woven and knitted. Sometimes orange clashed with brown, or silver with black. Only this time it looked more tailored but raw too.

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